Head of Finance Technology

Ares Management Corporation•Los Angeles, CA

3d•$225,000 - $250,000

About The Position

Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry. Job Description PRIMARY FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Finance & Fund Accounting Technology Ownership Establish and own the enterprise-wide Finance Technology strategy and multi-year roadmap for fund and investment finance and accounting, aligned with firm-wide technology and business objectives. Serve as the senior technology counterpart to Finance leadership, including business unit CFOs, providing thought leadership, transparency, and clear articulation of trade-offs and priorities. Partner with Technology and Finance leadership to frame, prioritize, and sequence initiatives that balance regulatory requirements, operational stability, and innovation. Own all technology solutions supporting fund and investment finance and accounting, across public and private credit, private equity, and other alternative asset classes. Provide deep domain leadership across fund accounting processes, including NAV calculation, capital activity, allocations, waterfalls, fee calculations, and financial reporting. Oversee platforms supporting fund accounting and investment finance, with strong familiarity with industry solutions such as Geneva (or comparable platforms). Partner closely with internal teams and external fund administrators to ensure seamless data exchange, clear ownership models, and strong operational controls. Delivery & Roadmap Execution Establish strong product management and delivery practices, including prioritization, dependency management, and stakeholder communication. Own delivery outcomes across finance technology initiatives, ensuring predictable execution, quality, and alignment with business expectations. Drive the ongoing implementation and expansion of Anaplan for fund waterfall modeling and related financial use cases, ensuring scalability and alignment with Finance needs. Identify and drive opportunities to automate finance workflows, reduce manual processing, and improve the timeliness and accuracy of financial outputs. Assess and pilot emerging technologies, including AI-enabled analytics, workflow automation, and agentic capabilities, to enhance finance operations and decision support. Engineering, Architecture & Integration Leadership Provide hands-on technical leadership, drawing on prior software engineering experience to guide architecture, design patterns, and implementation approaches. Ensure finance technology solutions leverage modern architectures and frameworks, including API-driven integration, event-based patterns, and cloud-native services where appropriate. Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Data, Infrastructure, and Security teams to ensure solutions meet standards for performance, resiliency, security, and compliance. Champion best practices for data integration, reconciliation, and lineage across internal systems and external service providers. Stakeholder Engagement & Communication Act as a trusted advisor to senior Finance leaders, investment teams, and Technology peers, with the ability to clearly communicate complex technical and financial concepts. Facilitate effective governance forums, steering committees, and working groups to ensure alignment and timely decision-making. Build strong partnerships with external vendors, software providers, and fund administrators. Team Leadership & Capability Building Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing global Finance Technology organization with clear roles, accountability, and career paths. Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Finance, or a related field.
12+ years of progressive experience across technology leadership roles, with significant exposure to asset management or financial services.
Demonstrated experience leading Finance Technology, Investment Accounting Technology, or closely related functions within alternative asset management.
Strong understanding of fund accounting concepts, fund structures, investor accounting, and investment lifecycle processes across private equity, credit (public and private), and similar asset classes.
Experience designing, implementing, or supporting fund waterfall calculations and allocation models, including carried interest, management fees, and complex distribution scenarios; experience with Anaplan for fund waterfall or financial modeling use cases is a strong plus.
Hands-on experience with fund accounting platforms such as Geneva (or comparable systems) and working closely with large third-party fund administrators.
Proven experience building and leading global teams of product managers and engineers, including people management, hiring, performance development, and organizational scaling.
Strong engineering background, including hands-on coding and development experience, with a solid grasp of modern application architecture, integration frameworks, and API-based connectivity.
Demonstrated experience leveraging automation technologies and evaluating AI-enabled or agentic capabilities to streamline financial workflows, improve data quality, and enhance finance operations within a controlled, regulated environment.
Experience delivering complex, multi-year technology roadmaps in partnership with senior Finance and business leadership.
Blend of finance domain depth and technical credibility, with the ability to operate comfortably across both disciplines.
Strong executive presence and communication skills, capable of influencing CFOs and senior Finance leaders.
Strategic thinker with a pragmatic, execution-oriented mindset.
Deep understanding of data-driven finance operations, controls, and risk management.
Comfortable operating in ambiguity and building new functions from the ground up.
Forward-thinking leader with a passion for automation, simplification, and intelligent use of emerging technologies.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred.
Experience designing, implementing, or supporting fund waterfall calculations and allocation models, including carried interest, management fees, and complex distribution scenarios; experience with Anaplan for fund waterfall or financial modeling use cases is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

Establish and own the enterprise-wide Finance Technology strategy and multi-year roadmap for fund and investment finance and accounting, aligned with firm-wide technology and business objectives.
Serve as the senior technology counterpart to Finance leadership, including business unit CFOs, providing thought leadership, transparency, and clear articulation of trade-offs and priorities.
Partner with Technology and Finance leadership to frame, prioritize, and sequence initiatives that balance regulatory requirements, operational stability, and innovation.
Own all technology solutions supporting fund and investment finance and accounting, across public and private credit, private equity, and other alternative asset classes.
Provide deep domain leadership across fund accounting processes, including NAV calculation, capital activity, allocations, waterfalls, fee calculations, and financial reporting.
Oversee platforms supporting fund accounting and investment finance, with strong familiarity with industry solutions such as Geneva (or comparable platforms).
Partner closely with internal teams and external fund administrators to ensure seamless data exchange, clear ownership models, and strong operational controls.
Establish strong product management and delivery practices, including prioritization, dependency management, and stakeholder communication.
Own delivery outcomes across finance technology initiatives, ensuring predictable execution, quality, and alignment with business expectations.
Drive the ongoing implementation and expansion of Anaplan for fund waterfall modeling and related financial use cases, ensuring scalability and alignment with Finance needs.
Identify and drive opportunities to automate finance workflows, reduce manual processing, and improve the timeliness and accuracy of financial outputs.
Assess and pilot emerging technologies, including AI-enabled analytics, workflow automation, and agentic capabilities, to enhance finance operations and decision support.
Provide hands-on technical leadership, drawing on prior software engineering experience to guide architecture, design patterns, and implementation approaches.
Ensure finance technology solutions leverage modern architectures and frameworks, including API-driven integration, event-based patterns, and cloud-native services where appropriate.
Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Data, Infrastructure, and Security teams to ensure solutions meet standards for performance, resiliency, security, and compliance.
Champion best practices for data integration, reconciliation, and lineage across internal systems and external service providers.
Act as a trusted advisor to senior Finance leaders, investment teams, and Technology peers, with the ability to clearly communicate complex technical and financial concepts.
Facilitate effective governance forums, steering committees, and working groups to ensure alignment and timely decision-making.
Build strong partnerships with external vendors, software providers, and fund administrators.
Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing global Finance Technology organization with clear roles, accountability, and career paths.
Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the team.